Aviation

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many air miles were travelled by Ministers in his Department in each year since 2000; and what estimate he has made of the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions produced as a result;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions produced by his Department in each year since 1997;
	(3)  how many miles he and other Ministers in his Department travelled on short haul flights in the last 12 months; and what estimate he has made of the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions produced as a result of these flights.

Angela Eagle: The Treasury began collecting data on air mileage and emissions in 2006-07. The available data is set out in the table. It is not possible to give a further break down of ministerial air travel within this data. The Treasury offsets all official and ministerial air travel.(1)
	
		
			   Kilometres  CO 2  emissions-tonnes 
			 Short-haul air travel by Ministers and officials (2006-07) 3,146,011 944 
			 Long-haul air travel by Ministers and officials (2006-07) 2,469,318 543 
			 Total for 2006-07 5,615,329 1,487 
		
	
	The Treasury has been measuring the carbon emissions for the office estate since 1999-2000. Figures from this date to 2005-06 are set out in the annex. Estate emissions for 2006-07 were 1,110,615 kg carbon. All electricity used is generated from renewable sources, and emissions have fallen by 19 per cent. during this period.(2)
	The department also now estimates that in 2006-07 12 tonnes of carbon were emitted from road based travel and 19.3 tonnes of carbon were emitted from rail travel.(3)
	Data for short haul air mileage and emissions from April 2007 to the current month will be available shortly.
	(1)( ) Source: DEFRA methodology: Government Carbon Offsetting Fund—an explanation of this methodology is available at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climatechange/uk/carbonoffset/government.htm
	(2) The Building Research Establishment Ltd. provides annual analysis of energy consumption and emissions data for government departments and the Sustainable Development Commission. This data is used to monitor progress against government targets.
	(3) The methodology used follows guidance set out for government departments by the Sustainable Development Commission and the July 2005 DEFRA "Greenhouse Gas conversion factors for Company Reporting".

Cancer

Jamie Reed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the incidence of cancer was in each  (a) constituency,  (b) primary care trust area,  (c) hospital trust area,  (d) region and  (e) social demographic group in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	[Official Report, 14 January 2008, Vol. 470, c. 5MC.]
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 11 December 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the incidence of cancer was in each (a) constituency, (b) primary care trust area, (c) hospitals trust area, (d) region and (e) social demographic group in the most recent period for which figures are available. I am replying in her absence. (171907)
	It is not possible to calculate incidence rates of cancer by (a) constituency and (c) hospitals trust area because the relevant populations are not available.
	Incidence rates of all cancers excluding non-melanoma skin cancer in England by (b) primary care trust area and (d) government office region for 2004, the latest year for which figures are available, are given in Tables 1 and 2 below. Figures for government office regions are also available on the National Statistics website at
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Productasp?vlnk=8843&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=272
	Incidence rates of all cancers excluding non-melanoma skin cancer in England and Wales by (e) social demographic group are not available. However, the latest incidence rates for the three main cancers (breast, lung and prostate), which make up around 40 per cent of all cancers, by (e) social demographic group are given in Table 3 below.
	
		
			  Table 1: Incidence rates( 1)  of all cancers( 2)  per 100,000 population, by primary care trust( 3)  and sex, England, 2004 
			   Males  Females 
			  Primary care trust   
			 England 480 454 
			
			 South Gloucestershire 633 534 
			 Havering 437 325 
			 Kingston 422 344 
			 Bromley 344 310 
			 Greenwich Teaching 407 342 
			 Barnet 348 302 
			 North East Lincolnshire 511 437 
			 Hillingdon 371 296 
			 Enfield 374 303 
			 Barking and Dagenham 412 274 
			 City and Hackney Teaching 412 286 
			 Tower Hamlets 388 334 
			 Newham 392 332 
			 Haringey Teaching 449 325 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 547 425 
			 Herefordshire 448 430 
			 Milton Keynes 642 495 
			 Newcastle 604 465 
			 North Tyneside 589 464 
			 Hartlepool 609 402 
			 North Tees 556 490 
			 North Lincolnshire 493 416 
			 Nottingham City 608 509 
			 Bassetlaw 460 531 
			 Plymouth Teaching 645 492 
			 Salford 529 441 
			 Stockport 574 438 
			 Portsmouth City Teaching 578 526 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 633 525 
			 Luton 401 335 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 402 272 
			 Rotherham 614 520 
			 Ashton, Leigh and Wigan 565 426 
			 Blackpool 641 517 
			 Bolton 532 438 
			 Ealing 343 289 
			 Hounslow 352 281 
			 Warrington 538 403 
			 Knowsley 712 539 
			 Oldham 566 422 
			 Calderdale 482 445 
			 Darlington 529 415 
			 Barnsley 553 439 
			 Bury 534 420 
			 Swindon 526 464 
			 Brent Teaching 346 287 
			 Harrow 317 289 
			 Camden 412 378 
			 Islington 454 318 
			 Croydon 399 327 
			 Gateshead 591 474 
			 South Tyneside 567 501 
			 Sunderland Teaching 564 495 
			 Middlesbrough 620 461 
			 Southampton City 598 477 
			 Medway 431 366 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 337 244 
			 Westminster 375 284 
			 Lambeth 445 363 
			 Southwark 423 347 
			 Lewisham 497 352 
			 Wandsworth 454 386 
			 Tameside and Glossop 548 436 
			 Brighton and Hove City 374 307 
			 South Birmingham 543 447 
			 Shropshire County 560 413 
			 Walsall Teaching 544 470 
			 Richmond and Twickenham 399 331 
			 Sutton and Merton 439 323 
			 North Somerset 622 511 
			 Coventry Teaching 526 438 
			 Telford and Wrekin 517 385 
			 Wolverhampton City 461 414 
			 Heart of Birmingham Teaching 493 345 
			 Leeds 562 453 
			 Kirklees 506 394 
			 Wakefield District 543 476 
			 Sheffield 547 457 
			 Doncaster 627 471 
			 Derbyshire County 544 455 
			 Derby City 566 454 
			 Nottinghamshire County 565 475 
			 Lincolnshire 559 449 
			 Redbridge 323 282 
			 Waltham Forest 323 262 
			 County Durham 535 450 
			 Cumbria 484 449 
			 North Lancashire 590 470 
			 Central Lancashire 574 426 
			 East Lancashire 537 456 
			 Sefton 632 458 
			 Wirral 498 390 
			 Liverpool 678 539 
			 Halton and St. Helens 589 456 
			 Western Cheshire 562 481 
			 Central and Eastern Cheshire 544 436 
			 Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale 588 413 
			 Trafford 612 471 
			 Manchester 598 475 
			 North Yorkshire and York 550 426 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 536 440 
			 Hull 576 457 
			 Bradford and Airedale 515 427 
			 South East Essex 401 351 
			 Bedfordshire 379 363 
			 East and North Hertfordshire 416 321 
			 West Hertfordshire 294 259 
			 Surrey 356 332 
			 West Sussex 390 326 
			 East Sussex Downs and Weald 379 328 
			 Hastings and Rother 299 303 
			 West Kent 385 336 
			 Leicestershire County and Rutland 511 442 
			 Leicester City 469 411 
			 Northamptonshire 535 454 
			 Dudley 458 411 
			 Sandwell 465 367 
			 Birmingham East and North 571 410 
			 North Staffordshire 462 370 
			 Stoke on Trent 505 461 
			 South Staffordshire 520 422 
			 Worcestershire 543 456 
			 Warwickshire 528 432 
			 Peterborough 532 421 
			 Cambridgeshire 534 447 
			 Norfolk 516 446 
			 Great Yarmouth and Waveney 500 412 
			 Suffolk 553 418 
			 West Essex 385 281 
			 North East Essex 377 325 
			 Mid Essex 302 261 
			 South West Essex 394 296 
			 Eastern and Coastal Kent 419 335 
			 Hampshire 496 399 
			 Buckinghamshire 573 481 
			 Oxfordshire 591 480 
			 Berkshire West 577 453 
			 Berkshire East 576 458 
			 Gloucestershire 532 451 
			 Bristol 612 484 
			 Wiltshire 630 493 
			 Somerset 569 512 
			 Dorset 673 490 
			 Bournemouth and Poole 682 496 
			 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 569 490 
			 Devon 645 490 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 618 485 
			 Isle of Wight National Health Service 531 475 
			
			  Care Trust   
			 Northumberland 560 456 
			 Bexley 372 347 
			 Torbay 562 507 
			 Solihull 578 474 
			 (1) Directly age standardised to the European Standard Population. (2) All cancers, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer, are classified according to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10): C00-C97 excluding C44. (3) Boundaries as at 1 October 2006.  Source: Office for National Statistics. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Incidence rate( 1) of all cancers( 2)  per 100,000 population, by Government office region and sex, England, 2004 
			   Males  Females 
			 England 480 454 
			
			 North East 533 506 
			 North West 537 486 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 502 474 
			 East Midlands 499 492 
			 West Midlands 489 454 
			 East 456 426 
			 London 342 333 
			 South East 469 454 
			 South West 578 534 
			 (1) Directly age standardised to the European Standard Population. (2) All cancers, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer, are classified according to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10): C00-C97 excluding C44.  Source: Office for National Statistics (2004) 'Cancer Statistics: Registrations Series MB1' 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Incidence rate( 1)  of selected cancers( 2)  per 100,000 by deprivation, England and Wales, 2002-04 average 
			   Breast  Prostate  Lung 
			  Deprivation quintile  Female  Male  Female  Male 
			 Q1 Least deprived 157 100 56 28 
			 Q2 152 96 70 34 
			 Q3 148 91 83 42 
			 Q4 141 85 99 53 
			 Q5 Most deprived 132 82 125 67 
			 (1) Directly age standardised to the European Standard Population. (2) Cancers are classified according to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10): prostate C61, Breast C50, Lung C33-34.  Source: Unpublished data from Rowan S (2007) 'Trends in cancer incidence by deprivation, England and Wales, 1990-2002' in Health Statistics Quarterly 36: 24-41.

Private Equity

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the transparency of private equity finance; if he will bring forward proposals to increase such transparency; and what research he has commissioned or supported to this end.

Kitty Ussher: The Government's objectives in the field of private equity are the same as its objectives in relation to other forms of ownership: to promote an environment of long-term, sustainable business success, underpinned by a strong culture of clear disclosure to, and engagement with, underlying investors and stakeholders. The Government's assessment also suggests that it is in the interests of the private equity industry to provide information which will improve public understanding of the industry by demonstrating the extent of its contribution to the UK economy and employment.
	The Government also welcomed the announcement earlier this year by leading private equity houses and the British Venture Capital Association that it would undertake a review to draw up a comply-or-explain code to improve levels of disclosure. Sir David Walker's code is an important step forward in improving the transparency of the industry. He has set a challenge for the private equity industry and the Government will watch with interest to see how the industry responds to this.

Departmental Pay

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of his Department's staff are employed within each salary band; what the title and role of each position within each salary band is; and for each salary band what the  (a) bonus structure,  (b) retirement provision,  (c) expenses provision,  (d) total expenses incurred in each of the last 10 years,  (e) average age of employee,  (f) number of (i) women and (ii) men and  (g) ethnic composition is.

Derek Twigg: The strength and proportion of civilian personnel employed within each salary band is shown as follows:
	
		
			  Strength and proportion of civilian personnel( 1)  by grade as at 1 April 2007 
			  Headcount 
			   Strength  Percentage 
			 Senior civil service and equivalent(2) 290 0.3 
			 Pay Band B 2,520 2.5 
			 Pay Band C 17,230 16.9 
			 Pay Band D 12,430 12.2 
			 Pay Band E 26,760 26.2 
			 Other non-industrial 860 0.8 
			 Industrial 13,600 13.3 
			 Trading Fund staff 10,250 10.1 
			 Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) 2,360 2.3 
			 Locally engaged civilians 15,650 15.4 
			 Total 101,940 100 
			 (1) Data includes permanent and casual personnel employed by the Department, the Royal Fleet Auxiliaries, Trading Funds and locally engaged civilians. (2 )The senior civil service was formed in 1996. The totals include about 50 personnel outside the senior civil service but of equivalent grade. (3) All strengths are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not equal the sum of their rounded parts.  Source:  DASA (Quad-Service) 
		
	
	The Ministry of Defence employs staff in many hundreds of different roles. I have placed in the Library of the House a complete list of the departmental grades, job families and job codes.
	 (a) Staff in the non-industrial broader banded groups and industrial skill zones (excluding Trading Funds) are eligible to receive end of year bonus awards based on relative assessment of performance against their peers. In 2007 up to 75 per cent. of non-industrial staff and 100 per cent. of industrial staff could be awarded one of three tiers of bonuses. For the senior civil service, bonuses are used to reward excellent performance during the year and the award is based on a judgment of how well an individual has performed against their peers. Fixed term employees brought into the Department through fair and open competition have contracts which allow for payment of a non-consolidated, performance related bonus, usually of a maximum of 10 per cent. of basic salary. Individual performance is judged by line managers and, for those who are agency chief executives, there is an annual audit of performance against agency key targets. The Agency owner then takes a view of the individual's performance guided by the independent audit agency and the remuneration committee. MOD also operates a special bonus scheme to reward civilian staff for exceptional performance in a specific task or for the achievement of professional qualifications which benefit MOD and the individual. Staff in Trading Funds are subject to separate arrangements which meet their business needs.
	 (b) All MOD civil servants are eligible to belong to a pension scheme. Most belong to the principal civil service pension scheme (PCSPS)—although there are a number of different schemes under the overall PCSPS umbrella. Some analogue grades—such as lecturers, teachers and medical grades—belong to the pension scheme appropriate to that profession such as the teachers pension scheme, the Scottish teachers pension scheme and the NHS pension scheme.
	 (c) An MOD employed civil servant is eligible to claim for the reasonable extra expense of travel and subsistence while on official duty. This may mean travel expenses by public transport, official or private vehicle, the actual bed and breakfast costs where overnight accommodation is required and the reimbursement of actual and reasonable additional meal and refreshment costs while undertaking the official duty.
	 (d) The total costs directly attributed to civilian staff, for travel and subsistence since 2003-04 (excluding Trading Funds, details for which are not held centrally) are:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2003-04 117.01 
			 2004-05 127.61 
			 2005-06 133.69 
			 2006-07 135.78 
		
	
	There are additional costs in respect of personnel movements which include car hire, for both military and civilian personnel, which are attributed to one accounting code, for which the civilian cost element can be separately identified only at disproportionate cost.
	Travel costs prior to 2003-04 were attributed to a common accounting code for both military and civilian personnel. Costs for civilian personnel could be extracted only at disproportionate cost.
	 (e) The average age of departmental employees is shown as follows:
	
		
			  Average age of MoD personnel( 1)  as at 1 April 2007 
			   Average age 
			 Senior civil service and equivalent(2) 51.7 
			 Pay Band B 48.4 
			 Pay Band C 46.7 
			 Pay Band D 44.8 
			 Pay Band E 44.4 
			 Other non-industrial 44.7 
			 Industrial 47.4 
			 Trading Fund Staff 42.5 
			 Total 45.3 
			 1. Data includes permanent and casual personnel employed by the Department, but excludes Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel and locally engaged civilians for whom age data is not centrally held. (2) The senior civil service was formed in 1996. The totals include about 50 personnel outside the senior civil service but of equivalent grade.  Source:  DASA (Quad-Service) 
		
	
	 (f) The number of (i) women and (ii) men employed by the Department is shown as follows:
	
		
			  Strength of civilian personnel( 1)  by sex and grade as at 1 April 2007 
			  Headcount 
			   Female  Male  Total 
			 Senior civil service and equivalent(2) 40 250 290 
			 Pay Band B 520 2,000 2,520 
			 Pay Band C 4,730 12,500 17,230 
			 Pay Band D 4,630 7,800 12,430 
			 Pay Band E 14,880 11,870 26,760 
			 Other non-industrial 630 230 860 
			 Industrial 2,740 10,850 13,600 
			 Trading Fund Staff 2,150 8,100 10,250 
			 Sub total 30,320 53,610 83,930 
			 
			 Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA)(3) (4)— (4)— 2,360 
			 Locally engaged civilians(3) (4)— (4)— 15,650 
			 Total (4)— (4)— 101,940 
			 (1) Data includes permanent and casual personnel employed by the Department, the Royal Fleet Auxiliaries, Trading Funds and locally engaged civilians. (2) The senior civil service was formed in 1996. The totals include about 50 personnel outside the senior civil service but of equivalent grade. (3 )Gender data are not available for royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel and locally engaged civilian personnel. (4 )Not available.  Note: All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not equal the sum of their rounded parts.  Source: DASA (Quad-Service). 
		
	
	 (g) The ethnic composition of the Department is shown as follows:
	
		
			  Strength of civilian personnel( 1)  by ethnic origin and grade, as at 1 April 2007 
			  Headcount 
			   White  Ethnic minorities  Unknown  Total 
			 Senior civil service and equivalent(2) 240 (3)— 50 290 
			 Pay Band B 2,080 50 400 2,520 
			 Pay Band C 14,020 400 2,820 17,230 
			 Pay Band D 10,520 340 1,570 12,430 
			 Pay Band E 22,430 880 3,450 26,760 
			 Other non-industrial 660 30 170 860 
			 Industrial 9,620 180 3,790 13,600 
			 Trading Fund Staff 7,900 170 2,180 10,250 
			 Sub total 67,450 2,060 14,430 89,930 
			  
			 Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA)(4) (5)— (5)— (5)— 2,360 
			 Locally engaged civilians(4) (5)— (5)— (5)— 15,650 
			 Total (5)— (5)— (5)— 101,940 
			 (1 )Data includes permanent and casual personnel employed by the Department, the Royal Fleet Auxiliaries, Trading funds and locally engaged civilians. (2) The senior civil service was formed in 1996. The totals include about 50 personnel outside the senior civil service but of equivalent grade. (3) Value less than 10. (4) Ethnicity data are not available for Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel and locally engaged civilian personnel. (5) Not available.  Note: All numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not equal the sum of their rounded parts.  Source: DASA (Quad-Service).

Departmental Pay

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department and its agencies spent on end-of-year bonus payments in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: Payment of non-consolidated performance bonuses reflects the principle across the civil service of rewarding performance through one-off, non-consolidated payments. End-of-year bonuses are awarded to staff for high performance sustained throughout the whole year.
	The following table shows details of end-of year bonuses awarded to SCS staff in core-Defra and its Executive Agencies in accordance with Cabinet Office arrangements; and for staff below the SCS in core-Defra and those Agencies covered by the core-Department's reward arrangements (Animal Health, Pesticides Safety Directorate, Veterinary Medicines Directorate, Marine Fisheries Agency and Government Decontamination Services). Data prior to 2005 is available only at disproportionate cost due to systems changes.
	
		
			   Defra (£) 
			 2003 — 
			 2004 — 
			 2005 2,765,045 
			 2006 2,568,449 
			 2007 2,854,598 
		
	
	The total sums paid annually in performance bonuses equate to a little over 1 per cent. of paybill.
	For staff below SCS in Defra's other Executive Agencies (Central Science Laboratory, Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Rural Payments Agency and Veterinary Laboratories Agency), who have pay delegation, the following table illustrates the amount of end-of year bonus payments over the last five years. For the RPA, data prior to 2004 is available only at disproportionate costs due to systems changes; and 2007 end-of-year bonuses have not yet been finalised.
	
		
			  £ 
			   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 CSL 117,937 140,095 143,743 176,901 233,049 
			 CEFAS 310,000 360,000 530,000 650,000 680,000 
			 RPA — 323,567 249,025 243,072 — 
			 VLA 33,065 30,777 35,034 39,120 45,357

Southeastern Railway Company: Franchises

Derek Conway: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what procedures her Department followed in making the recent franchise agreement with Southeastern Railway Company; and what assessment was made of the likely effect on fares for travellers from Sidcup and Albany Park stations before agreeing the franchise.

Tom Harris: In competing and awarding rail franchises, the Department's procedures comply with relevant procurement legislation and Office of Government Commerce guidelines. Evaluations of bids include checking compliance with the Department's fares policy. Such an assessment would not have been made at the level of detail to determine the impact on travellers from Sidcup and Albany Park stations.
	The Southeastern franchise is limited to an average annual increase in regulated fares (including those for season tickets, full fare singles and returns) of RPI +3 per cent. for five years from 2007 reflecting the very significant investment in the franchise in recent years including more than £600 million in new rolling stock (some 408 new carriages) and £93 million in power supply, stations, depots and infrastructure.
	A new zonal fares structure introduced Oyster Pay-As-You-Go smart ticketing on Southeastern in 2007 will enable the introduction across national rail in London from 2009. It simplifies the current complex system of individually priced station-to-station fares.
	In order to achieve this, and to maintain a coherent and balanced fare structure, some season ticket fares have been permitted to be increased above the otherwise maximum level.

Adult Education

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what discussions he has had with  (a) the Department of Health and  (b) Department for Communities and Local Government on the health and social effects on older people of continued participation in learning.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 26 November 2007
	We recognise the many wider benefits of participation in learning and its vital contribution to personal health and wellbeing, community involvement and quality of life as people age. Learning helps older people to fulfil themselves as active citizens and as members of their families and communities. People who keep mentally and physically active not only live longer but live happier and more fulfilled lives and pursuing learning can play a real part in this. We remain committed to ensuring the continuing availability of a wide range of suitable learning opportunities in every area for adult learners, including older people, and have safeguarded funding for learning for personal and community development at £210 million through to 2010-11
	We continue to work closely with ministerial colleagues in the context of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Ageing Policy (DA(AP)), to take forward the Government's opportunity age strategy, to ensure that longer life is healthy and fulfilling and that older people can participate fully in society. Colleagues at the Department for Work and Pensions lead on Opportunity Age and we are working with them to deliver the opportunities for older people proposed in World Class Skills and in the Green Paper: In Work, Better Off, both published in July this year.
	My officials are also working closely with their counterparts in Department of Health and Department for Communities and Local Government on the Opportunity Age Strategy Partnership Group, as well as its Sub-Group on Education and Training, and on the Task Group we have established to steer our reforms in Personal and Community Development Learning.
	I know that there are concerns about the impact of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 on fee concessions for older learners and I must make clear that the regulations do not bar providers from offering fee discounts for learners aged 65 and over. They allow for such positive action provided that it can be objectively justified. I refer my hon. Friend to my written statement on 16 May 2007,  Official Report, column 35WS.

Engineering: Education

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many  (a) foundation degrees and  (b) apprenticeships were offered in subjects related to (i) construction and (ii) engineering by each institution in London in each of the last five years.

Bill Rammell: The information requested is shown in the following tables. For  (a), the latest available information for Foundation Degree provision is shown in Table 1. Figures are not available for the years prior to 2004/05. The list for 2007-08 is provisional since the exercise of collating courses from all institutions is not yet completed. There are also some courses which are currently in development and these are listed separately.
	For  (b) the figures for those participating in apprenticeships can be derived from the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) Individualised Learner Record (ILR). Table 2 shows the number of apprenticeship starts in subjects related to construction and engineering from August-July in each year in the Greater London Region. Figures are shown for the last four years. Figures at institution level and figures for 2002/03 by Region are not readily available.
	
		
			  Table 2: Apprenticeship starts in subjects related to construction and engineering 
			   Advanced Apprenticeship  Apprenticeship 
			  2003/04( 1)   
			 Electrotechnical 154 145 
			 Engineering 200 45 
			 Engineering Construction 31 0 
			 Construction 50 258 
			 Plumbing 77 247 
			 Aviation 0 8 
			 Electricity Industry 3 0 
			 Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration 61 71 
			 Motor Industry 186 258 
			 Gas Industry 1 0 
			 Building Services Engineers 4 0 
			 Electrical and Electronic Servicing 37 4 
			
			  2004/05   
			 Electrotechnical 94 150 
			 Engineering 196 120 
			 Engineering Construction 15 0 
			 Metals Industry 0 1 
			 Construction 45 366 
			 Plumbing 42 267 
			 Aviation 0 6 
			 Transport Engineering and Maintenance 0 6 
			 Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration 61 77 
			 Automotive Industry 168 286 
			 Gas Industry 0 18 
			 Industrial Applications 0 13 
			 Electrical and Electronic Servicing 37 6 
			
			  2005/06   
			 Electrotechnical 186 133 
			 Engineering 156 83 
			 Engineering Construction 13 0 
			 Construction 46 407 
			 Plumbing 68 207 
			 Aviation 0 5 
			 Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration 96 106 
			 Automotive Industry 51 23 
			 Gas Industry 7 24 
			 Rail Transport Engineering 68 0 
			 Electrical and Electronic Servicing 22 0 
			 Vehicle Fitting 0 36 
			 Vehicle Maintenance and Repair 69 187 
			 Vehicle Body and Paint Operations 2 19 
			 Vehicle Parts Operations 0 12 
			 Engineering Technology 2 0 
			
			  2006/07   
			 Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Petro-Chemical Manufacturing and Refining Industries 1 0 
			 Electrotechnical 270 3 
			 Engineering 116 116 
			 Engineering Construction 16 0 
			 Construction 63 390 
			 Plumbing 108 188 
			 Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration 44 123 
			 Automotive Industry 15 14 
			 Gas Industry 13 7 
			 Rail Transport Engineering 27 2 
			 Industrial Applications 0 3 
			 Electrical and Electronic Servicing 3 0 
			 Vehicle Fitting 0 24 
			 Vehicle Maintenance and Repair 95 296 
			 Vehicle Body and Paint Operations 12 25 
			 Vehicle Parts Operations 9 10 
			 (1) Figures for 2003/04 are for Advanced Modern Apprenticeships and Foundation Modern Apprenticeships.  Source:  LSC's ILR

Children: Databases

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what safeguards he plans to put in place to prevent unauthorised access to data held on ContactPoint.

Kevin Brennan: Security is, and always has been, of paramount importance to the ContactPoint project and we are mindful that the Data Protection Act 1988 requires that the level of technical and organisational security must be appropriate.
	In relation to practitioner access to ContactPoint, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 3 December 2007,  Official Report, columns 926-27W.
	In relation to the storage and use of data, on Tuesday 20 November my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, asked the Department's Permanent Secretary to conduct an immediate assessment of how personal data is stored and protected in the Department. The Permanent Secretary reported back within 24 hours to confirm the Department is confident that we have very robust procedures in place. In light of the security breach at the HMRC, we are continuing to check our procedures to ensure standards are as high as they can be. On Wednesday 21 November, the Prime Minister confirmed this approach when he asked all Departments to check their procedures for the storage and use of data. Given the obvious importance of ensuring that ContactPoint has extremely robust security measures in place, on Tuesday 20 November, the Secretary of State also asked for an independent assessment of ContactPoint's security procedures. This will be conducted by Deloitte.
	In line with best practice, ContactPoint will be routinely backed up. This will be done only by specifically identified system operators within Capgemini, with whom we have contracted for the build and initial host of ContactPoint. Two Capgemini staff will have to be present when back-ups take place. This dual control is considered best practice. The backup tapes will be encrypted, protected with a strong (complex) password and stored in a fire-proof safe in a secure room. The limited number of Capgemini staff who do have access to this data must have enhanced CRB clearance.
	There is no facility that would allow users to copy personal identifiable information to a file, other than when files need to be backed up as indicated. The vast majority of users will only be able to view child data on the screen — they will not be able to extract files in a personally identifiable form. A very limited number of people will be able to extract identifiable data, one record at a time, from ContactPoint in order to meet legal requirements as set out in The Children Act 2004 Information Database (England) Regulations 2007, including responding to Subject Access Requests. There is a clear right under the Data Protection Act 1998 for children and young people (or their parents or carers when acting appropriately on their behalf) to have access to their information on ContactPoint and for it to be corrected if it is found to be inaccurate.
	A very limited number of people in local authorities and the national ContactPoint team will be able to run reports to, for example, produce aggregated data or support data quality checks. These reports will be in an anonymised form and will not contain personally identifiable data. The only exception to this is a report produced to support local authorities in their duty to identify children who are missing education. The information provided in this report is restricted by regulations and can only contain child name, address, date of birth, unique identifying number, parent/carer contact details and the details of start and end dates for educational institutions attended by the child or young person.

Departmental Data Protection

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on how many occasions in  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies confidential data have been downloaded on to compact discs (i) without and (ii) with encryption in the last 12 month period for which figures are available; how many of those discs have been posted without using recorded or registered delivery; what procedures his Department has in place for the (A) transport, (B) exchange and (C) delivery of confidential or sensitive data; what records are kept of information held by his Department being sent outside the Department; what changes have been made to his Department's rules and procedures on data protection in the last two years; on how many occasions his Department's procedures and rules on data protection have been breached in the last five years; what those breaches were; what procedures his Department has in place on downloading confidential data on to computer discs before its transfer; what technical protections there are in his Department's computer systems to prevent access to information held on those systems which is not in accordance with departmental procedures; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each of his Department's rules and procedures on the protection of confidential data on individuals, businesses and other organisations.

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether his Department's information technology and data management systems are BS7799 compliant.

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on how many occasions the Information Commissioner was contacted by his Department to report breaches of data protection security in each of the last five years.

Kevin Brennan: I refer the hon. Members to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 21 November 2007,  Official Report, column 1179. The review by the Cabinet Secretary and security experts is looking at procedures within Departments and agencies for the storage and use of data. A statement on Departments' procedures will be made on completion of the review.

Departmental Aviation

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on  (a) business and  (b) first class air travel in the last 12 months.

Anne McGuire: Between November 2006 and October 2007, the Department of Work and Pensions spent £554,605 on business class air travel and £7,653 on first class flights.

Departmental Telephone Services

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information his Department collects and monitors in relation to the telephone contact centres for which his Department is responsible.

Anne McGuire: The following lists provide examples of the range of measures collected by the Departments Contact Centres.
	In addition Business units collect a vast amount of individual pieces of information at various levels (individual, team, command, business unit, etc.) and by frequency. To obtain and list each individual piece of information would incur disproportionate costs.
	The Department monitors the effectiveness of its contact centres through a scorecard that measures performance across a balanced range of measures. Performance is reported on a monthly basis to the Department's Contact Centre Advisory Team and, each quarter, to the DWP Planning, Performance and Risk Committee. Performance is also monitored by the Contact Centre Performance Working Group whose remit is to: understand and improve performance; identify common performance pressure points, share good practice; and support common performance improvement initiatives.
	In addition, each Business Unit employs a range of performance management measures and tools to monitor the effectiveness of its centres which, for example, include: real time and historic performance measurement; mystery shopping; and the reviewing of the performance of individual agents.
	The Department also now reports on the performance of its contact centres to the Contact Council established following Sir David Varney's recommendations in his report "Service transformation: A better service for citizens and businesses, a better deal for the taxpayer".
	Examples of measures currently reported into the DWP Contact Centre Scorecard and Cabinet Office.
	Percentage Demand Forecast Accuracy
	Percentage Calls Answered by Agents
	Percentage Service Level
	Percentage Agent Utilisation
	Average Speed of Answer
	Percentage Calls Blocked and Failed
	Absence Levels
	Staff Attrition
	Cost per Contact Minute
	Budget Tolerance
	Percentage Staff Satisfaction and Engagement
	Percentage Scheduled Adherence
	Seat Utilisation
	In addition to the aforementioned individual business units employ a range of performance management measures and tools to monitor the effectiveness of its centres. Examples listed as follows:
	Telephone based customer surveys
	Call quality assessment
	Side by side and remote call listening
	Monthly report on complaints and praise received
	Mystery Shopping
	Exit interviews
	Claims Received (The Pension Service)
	Claims Processed (The Pension Service)
	Percentage Accuracy (The Pension Service)
	Changes Received (The Pension Service)
	Changes Processed (The Pension Service)
	Real Time Monitoring
	Average Wait Time
	Average Call Handling Time

Local Authorities: Equal Opportunities

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance his Department issued to local authorities on the provision of access to disability information services for disabled people.

Anne McGuire: Within my Department the Office for Disability Issues has been working with central and local government and disability organisations to look at how disabled people get information about public services, what they think of it, and how access to that information can be improved.
	Two reports were published earlier this year as a result of the project's work, aimed at communicators and practitioners. One, 'Improving Information for Disabled People' summarised the progress that had been made and the other, 'Five principles for producing better information for disabled people' set out the five core information principles that have been identified 'as essential to make sure that services and information are designed and delivered to a high standard.
	The project is continuing to work in partnership with four local authority-led projects in England, Cheshire, North Tyneside, Surrey and Croydon, aimed at improving provision of services locally.

Social Security Benefits: Overseas Residence

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effect of the use of overseas mail clearing services for his Department's post to overseas benefits recipients on the time taken for letters to be delivered to those recipients.

Anne McGuire: DWP's international mail is collected daily from DWP benefit processing output centres and is sorted into EU, Non-EU and Rest Of World destinations for despatch via air.
	The mail is then handed to the National Postal Authority (in which the recipient lives) for final delivery via an undocumented service. All mail travels as 'Priority' which is equivalent to a first class service.
	Average Transit times are:
	Rest of World countries: seven to 10 days.
	European Countries: five to seven days.
	The factors which have adversely affected a country's transit time include: Weather (flood, snowfall etc.), political and civil unrest, flight delay affected by weather etc.
	Regular contact between DWP and Spring Global Mail (our international mail providers) establish any service failures and investigate as appropriate to indicate whether there are problems affecting delivery to certain countries.

Stevenage

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with the hon. Member for Stevenage on proposals for a Single Equality Bill.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 3 December 2007
	 I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues on a range of issues.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Children

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders were issued in respect of 10 to 17-year-olds for the longest period for which figures are available, broken down by local authority area.

Vernon Coaker: The information is available at Criminal Justice System Area level only. Annual data from April 1999 to 31 December 2005 (latest available), is given in the table.
	
		
			  Table A2: Persons aged 10-17: Number of antisocial behaviour orders issued at all courts as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service by area and year, April 1999( 1)  to December 2005 
			Total 
			  CJS area  Total issued  April 1999-May 2000( 1)  June 2000 to December 2000  2001  2002  2003 
			 Avon and Somerset 71 — 2 7 4 10 
			 Bedfordshire 28 — 0 1 2 8 
			 Cambridgeshire 30 — 0 1 2 10 
			 Cheshire 81 — 0 2 5 14 
			 Cleveland 64 — 4 3 5 9 
			 Cumbria 50 — 0 0 5 7 
			 Derbyshire 44 — 0 3 2 3 
			 Devon and Cornwall 33 — 0 5 1 3 
			 Dorset 41 — 2 3 0 10 
			 Durham 44 — 2 5 5 8 
			 Essex 71 — 0 0 2 4 
			 Gloucestershire 39 — 1 2 0 5 
			 Greater London 359 — 10 10 4 41 
			 Greater Manchester 626 — 2 17 54 145 
			 Hampshire 123 — 0 3 8 22 
			 Hertfordshire 64 — 1 4 6 11 
			 Humberside 112 — 2 3 2 5 
			 Kent 77 — 2 15 4 12 
			 Lancashire 155 — 2 4 12 36 
			 Leicestershire 45 — 4 0 0 7 
			 Lincolnshire 16 — 0 2 1 3 
			 Merseyside 151 — 1 4 18 23 
			 Norfolk 37 — 0 6 3 4 
			 Northamptonshire 28 — 2 4 1 3 
			 Northumbria 125 — 2 3 12 9 
			 North Yorkshire 27 — 0 4 0 4 
			 Nottinghamshire 106 — 3 2 1 11 
			 South Yorkshire 110 — 1 4 10 12 
			 Staffordshire 78 — 0 3 7 12 
			 Suffolk 59 — 0 3 5 9 
			 Surrey 48 — 0 2 2 3 
			 Sussex 116 — 4 2 10 16 
			 Thames Valley 39 — 0 3 2 5 
			 Warwickshire 40 — 0 2 10 6 
			 West Mercia 96 — 3 21 12 13 
			 West Midlands 216 — 9 28 13 23 
			 West Yorkshire 354 — 2 9 11 60 
			 Wiltshire 16 — 0 0 1 4 
			
			 England 3,819 — 61 190 242 590 
			
			 Dyfed Powys 6 — 0 0 0 0 
			 Gwent 40 — 0 2 2 4 
			 North Wales 77 — 1 0 4 9 
			 South Wales 55 — 0 1 1 17 
			
			 Wales 178 — 1 3 7 30 
			
			 Total England and Wales 3,997 — 62 193 249 620 
		
	
	
		
			   2004  2005 
			  CJS area  January to March  April to June  July to September  October to December  Total  January to March  April to June  July to September  October to December  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 5 5 11 9 30 10 2 3 3 18 
			 Bedfordshire 1 2 2 1 6 2 5 2 2 11 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 0 1 1 3 1 7 3 3 14 
			 Cheshire 3 11 5 9 28 5 15 7 5 32 
			 Cleveland 3 0 2 10 15 5 5 8 10 28 
			 Cumbria 2 3 3 4 12 4 8 9 5 26 
			 Derbyshire 1 5 5 3 14 4 4 8 6 22 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1 3 0 3 7 7 3 4 3 17 
			 Dorset 2 6 7 2 17 2 2 2 3 9 
			 Durham 4 3 2 4 13 2 4 4 1 11 
			 Essex 4 5 11 10 30 15 9 9 2 35 
			 Gloucestershire 3 2 3 6 14 10 6 1 0 17 
			 Greater London 16 20 30 40 106 46 65 36 41 188 
			 Greater Manchester 48 52 51 56 207 52 57 53 39 201 
			 Hampshire 8 13 15 10 46 16 11 9 8 44 
			 Hertfordshire 7 5 3 1 16 6 3 13 4 26 
			 Humberside 3 9 13 10 35 19 19 13 14 65 
			 Kent 2 9 4 7 22 10 6 4 2 22 
			 Lancashire 7 10 18 18 53 14 13 11 10 48 
			 Leicestershire 1 1 3 4 9 14 8 1 2 25 
			 Lincolnshire 0 0 1 1 2 4 3 1 0 8 
			 Merseyside 11 8 12 17 48 18 14 14 11 57 
			 Norfolk 1 5 4 2 12 6 2 2 2 12 
			 Northamptonshire 2 2 5 2 11 2 1 3 1 7 
			 Northumbria 3 11 8 14 36 22 19 15 7 63 
			 North Yorkshire 5 0 2 6 13 1 1 2 2 6 
			 Nottinghamshire 2 3 12 11 28 16 13 15 17 61 
			 South Yorkshire 4 11 12 14 41 13 10 7 12 42 
			 Staffordshire 2 2 19 5 28 8 6 9 5 28 
			 Suffolk 2 6 7 9 24 6 5 4 3 18 
			 Surrey 3 7 5 10 25 6 7 1 2 16 
			 Sussex 3 18 10 14 45 6 10 7 16 39 
			 Thames Valley 1 8 8 4 21 1 3 1 3 8 
			 Warwickshire 3 2 2 4 11 4 2 2 3 11 
			 West Mercia 4 6 11 4 25 7 4 9 2 22 
			 West Midlands 8 8 22 17 55 27 23 22 16 88 
			 West Yorkshire 42 49 34 31 156 26 27 30 33 116 
			 Wiltshire 2 1 0 2 5 2 0 2 2 6 
			
			 England 220 311 363 375 1,269 419 402 346 300 1,467 
			
			 Dyfed Powys 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 1 2 4 
			 Gwent 3 3 3 3 12 6 6 5 3 20 
			 North Wales 7 2 5 9 23 12 9 12 7 40 
			 South Wales 3 2 4 3 12 9 5 7 3 24 
			
			 Wales 13 8 13 15 49 27 21 25 15 88 
			
			 Total England and Wales 233 319 376 390 1,318 446 423 371 315 1,555 
			 (1 )No age details available for the period April 1999 to May 2000.   Notes:  1. Previously issued data have been revised following joint Home Office/Court Service data reconciliation exercises.  2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Prepared by RDS-OCJR.

Departmental Manpower

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil servants in her Department  (a) transferred to other Government departments and  (b) left the Civil Service in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her by my hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Angela Eagle) on 13 November 2007,  Official Report, column 203W.

Arthritis

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many new cases of rheumatoid arthritis were diagnosed in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of people in England diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in each  (a) strategic health authority area and  (b) primary care trust area in the most recent year for which figures are available;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the total cost to  (a) the NHS and  (b) social services of rheumatoid arthritis in the latest period for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: Information on the number of newly diagnosed cases of rheumatoid arthritis is not collected.
	We have made no estimate of the number of people diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis within each strategic health authority of primary care trust area.
	We have made no estimate of the cost of rheumatoid arthritis to the national health service and social services.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust: Infectious Diseases

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of  (a) MRSA and  (b) clostridium difficile have been recorded in Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust since 1997.

Ann Keen: The information is not collected in the format requested.
	Data on methicillin-resistant  Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and  clostridium difficile (C.difficile) is only available from 2001, and can be found in the following table.
	
		
			  Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals MRSA bacteraemia reports (annual) 
			  April to March each year  Number 
			 2001-02 92 
			 2002-03 77 
			 2003-04 116 
			 2004-05 98 
			 2005-06 69 
			 2006-07 71 
		
	
	The best available data on the number of reports of  C.difficile infections is for patients aged 65 and over and comes from the mandatory surveillance scheme run by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) since 2004.
	
		
			  Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals  C.difficile reports  (annual) —Patients aged = 65 years 
			   Number 
			  January to December  
			 2004 648 
			 2005 927 
			 2006 622 
			  Note:  The data shown in the tables is provisional. The HPA states that the tables contain data received prior to the final submission deadline. Late submissions of data corrections are incorporated in later publications.   Source:  HPA

Childbirth

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) midwife-led,  (b) consultant-led and  (c) other maternity units there were in each year since 1997; how many births there were in each type of unit in each year; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: Some of the information requested is not available. The latest available data is in the NHS Maternity Statistics 2005-06. Copies of this publication are available in the Library.
	The following table gives details of the numbers of births and the percentages of those births in consultant units, general practitioner (GP) units, units led jointly by consultants, GPs and midwives and midwife or other units since 1997.
	
		
			   Number of births  Consultant units  GP units  Units led jointly by consultants, GPs and midwives  Midwifery/other 
			 1997-08 585,000 65 2 31 2 
			 1998-09 577,500 59 2 38 1 
			 1999-2000 565,300 57 1 40 2 
			 2000-01 549,600 57 2 38 3 
			 2001-02 541,700 55 1 40 4 
			 2002-03 548,000 59 1 37 3 
			 2003-04 575,900 58 2 35 5 
			 2004-05 584,100 54 1 40 5 
			 2005-06 593,400 50 2 42 6 
			  Source :  Hospital Episode Statistics

Dental Services: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many NHS dentists in Bexley  (a) admitted new adult patients to their list and  (b) treated NHS patients between the ages of 18 and 65 years in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many  (a) 18 to 65 and  (b) under 18 year olds were registered for NHS dental treatment in Bexley in each year since 1997.

Ann Keen: This information is not available in the format requested. Information on national health service dentists who admitted new patients to their list is not collected centrally.
	Under the old contractual arrangements which were in place until 2006, patients had to register with an individual dentist.
	The number of patients registered with an NHS dentist at primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority (SHA) area are available in annex A of the "NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report, England: 31 March 2006". Information is available annually as at 31 March 1997 to 2006 and is broken down by children (aged 17 and under) and adults (aged 18 and over).
	This report is available in the Library and is also available at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/dentistry/nhs-dental-activity-and-workforce-report-england-31-march-2006
	Under the new contractual arrangements, patients do not have to be registered with a dentist to receive NHS care. The closest equivalent measure to 'registration' is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services ('patients seen') in a given area over a 24-month period, for that area. However, this is not directly comparable to the registration data for earlier years.
	The number of patients seen by an NHS dentist in the 24-month period ending 31 March 2006 and 31 March 2007 are available in table C1 of annex 3 of the "NHS Dental Statistics for England 2006-07" report. Information is available at PCT and SHA area and is broken down by children (aged 17 and under) and adults (aged 18 and over).
	This report is available in the Library and is also available at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dental0607

General Practitioners: Training

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners in each  (a) Government region and  (b) primary care trust area were invited by their primary care trust to attend courses to update their or their practice's skills in the last 18 months; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department collects on the employment of people who have studied  (a) midwifery and  (b) other healthcare-related subjects post-qualification.

Ann Keen: This data is not collected centrally.
	Post-registration training needs for national health service staff are determined against local NHS priorities, through appraisal processes and training needs analyses informed by local delivery plans and the needs of the service.
	Access to training is affected by a number of factors such as the availability of funding, whether staff can be released, the availability of appropriate training interventions, mentors and assessors. It would not be practical for the centre to be prescriptive on this.

Health Services: Information Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health representatives of which private sector providers of healthcare the Information Centre for Health and Social Care has included on its stakeholder and reference groups, as stated on the Our Priorities for 2007-08 section of its website; what progress the Information Centre has made in extending  (a) support and  (b) guidance to private sector providers; and what steps the Information Centre has taken in support of its aim to align information collected across the NHS and private sectors.

Ben Bradshaw: The Information Centre for health and social care (IC) works with the Independent Healthcare Advisory Services and NHS Partners Network, which represent a large number of independent sector providers. The IC also includes the following independent sector providers on its Reference Group for discussing data collection: Spire Healthcare, Nuffield Hospitals, Horder Centre, Care UK, Capio, General Healthcare Group/Netcare UK, Benenden Hospital and BMI Healthcare.
	The IC supports the independent sector through its website, which includes guidance on information gathering, data, publications, and training. The IC publicises these material through its various stakeholder groups.
	The IC has established a Working Group with the independent sector to improve the alignment of information across the national health service and independent sectors. The group is focusing particularly on alignment of information on mental health, healthcare associated infections, serious untoward incidents and patient experience.

Heart Disease: Transplant Surgery

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of research on the correlation between ischaemia time and 30 day mortality rates after heart transplantation; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether he has reviewed all commercially-available medical technologies and assessed their ability to reduce ischaemic injury to donor organs for use in organ transplantation; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the 30 day survival rate for heart transplant patients who received a beating heart transplant using the organ care system at Papworth and Harefield hospitals; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  if he will make an assessment of the likely effect on survival rates in heart transplantation of the use of the organ care system/beating heart transplant technology in all the UK's transplant units; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  if he will make an assessment of the likely effect on the number of donor organs in heart transplantation of the use of the organ care system/beating heart transplant technology in all the UK's transplant units; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: A European study of the use of the organ care system has been carried out in 20 patients including seven at Papworth hospital and one at Harefield hospital. We understand that the study was not a randomised controlled trial and had no comparison group. The results were presented at 2007 meeting of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation but have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. This presentation stated that there were no deaths within 30-days of transplantation in the 20 patients in the study. We have not made an assessment of the merits of using the organ care system in United Kingdom transplant units but understand that the Food and Drug Administration has given approval of a research study at five named centres in the United States of America to evaluate the safety and performance of the organ care system in heart transplantation. This study will start in 2008 and may provide relevant evidence for the future. The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation publishes figures for survival at one year following heart transplant according to different ischaemic times.

Hillingdon Primary Care Trust: Infectious Diseases

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of  (a) MRSA and  (b) clostridium difficile were recorded in the Hillingdon Primary Care Trust in each year since 1997.

Ann Keen: Information is not available in the format requested. However, the information is collected at trust level. The following table shows information on how many cases of methicillin resistant  Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections and  Clostridium difficile infection from the mandatory surveillance scheme run by the Health Protection Agency (HPA). Data is only available from 2001.
	
		
			  April to March each year  Number of (MRSA) bloodstream infection reports at the Hillingdon hospital NHS trust 
			 2001-02 33 
			 2002-03 36 
			 2003-04 24 
			 2004-05 30 
			 2005-06 24 
			 2006-07 38 
		
	
	
		
			   Number of C. difficile reports for patients aged 65 years and over at the Hillingdon hospital NHS Trust 
			 January-December 2004 219 
			 January-December 2005 140 
			 January-December 2006 196 
			 January-June 2007 (6 months only) 122 
			  Source:  Health Protection Agency—provisional data

Incontinence

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons the Commercial Directorate's latest consultation on reimbursement for stoma and incontinence products and services under Part IX of the Drug Tariff omits reference to four of the seven objectives originally set for the review covering fair prices for the NHS and reasonable returns for suppliers, facilitating the introduction of innovative solutions, maintaining local choice in the provision of services and keeping administration to the necessary minimum; and how performance against all the review's objectives will be measured.

Ben Bradshaw: The review and related consultation has been ongoing since October 2005 and none of the original list of objectives is omitted.
	In the current consultation document, the list of objectives is streamlined for simplicity. The Department has subsequently reiterated all of the objectives of the review contained in Clarification Document published on 4 October, which is available on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Consultations/Liveconsultations/DH_078135
	A copy has been placed in the Library.
	Following Cabinet Office guidelines the Department will carry be carrying out a review three years post-implementation to assess whether the objects of any changes are achieving their objectives.

Medical Treatments: Waiting Lists

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets the Government sets for waiting times for cancer patients requiring diagnostic endoscopies; and what the average waiting time was for cancer patients awaiting diagnostic endoscopies by the Royal Cornwall Trust in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: There are no specific waiting time targets for urgent endoscopies for cancer patients and endoscopy waiting times are not collected centrally. However, where a patient needs an urgent endoscopy following urgent referral by their general practitioner for suspected cancer, the whole patient pathway from referral to commencing first cancer treatment should not exceed 62 days.
	Outside of the cancer pathway, by 2008, there will be a maximum 18-week pathway from referral to treatment for all patients. This will include time spent waiting for diagnostic tests.

Mental Health Services: Prisons

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the outcome was of the most recent mental health needs assessment in each prison establishment.

Ivan Lewis: In 2001, the document "Changing the Outlook A Strategy for Developing and Modernising Mental Health Services in Prisons" (2001) asked prisons to work with their local national health service partners to review the mental health needs assessments they made during 2001-01 and to develop action plans to fill any gaps in provision that may have been identified.
	This process informed the development of prison mental health services, and the introduction of prison mental health in-reach teams, during the process of transferring responsibility for prison health services from HM Prison Service to the NHS.
	Since 2006, all prison health services, including prison mental health services, have been fully commissioned by NHS primary care trusts (PCTs). Local health needs assessments for prison populations are now therefore a matter for PCTs.

Nutrition: Training

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which organisations are developing the online training session on nutritional care and assistance with eating referred to on page 4 of his Department's document, Improving Nutritional Care; how the training session will be made available to  (a) NHS and  (b) social care staff; whether he intends to make the training session available to those health professionals who work outside the NHS and social care services; what topics he intends the online training session to cover; what the cost to the public purse will be of its development; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The online training session on nutritional care referred to in "Improving Nutritional Care—A joint Action Plan from the Department of Health and Nutrition Summit stakeholders" is being designed and provided by the National Health Service Core Learning Unit. The NHS Core Learning Unit are currently developing the content of the course and it will be made available in May 2008. Topics for the course are being decided by an expert reference group and it is expected to cover provision of support to service users during mealtimes. The course will be free to all NHS staff as an online e-learning module and will be made available to all social care staff and also those working outside the NHS and social care system at a negotiated price. The cost of establishing the course is contained within the existing budget of the NHS Core Learning Unit as part of their programme of work for 2007-08.

Urology

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many finished consultant episodes relating to the treatment of ruptured bladders there have been in the NHS in each year since 1997-98.

Ann Keen: The information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows the number of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) with a diagnosis that mentions the rupture of a bladder not due to trauma, in national health service hospitals in each year from 1997-08 to 2005-06.
	
		
			   Number of finished consultant episodes 
			 2005-06 83 
			 2004-05 52 
			 2003-04 68 
			 2002-03 69 
			 2001-02 57 
			 2000-01 46 
			 1999-00 75 
			 1998-99 66 
			 1997-98 62 
			  Notes:  1.  Data Quality HES are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts in England. The Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.  2.  Assessing growth through time HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. During the years that these records have been collected the NHS there have been ongoing improvements in quality and coverage. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example a number of procedures may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and may no longer be accounted in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time.  3.  All Diagnoses count of episodes These figures represent a count of all FCEs where the diagnosis was mentioned in any of the 14 (seven prior to 2602-03) diagnosis fields in a HES record. An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.  4.  Ungrossed Data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).   Source:  Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for Health and Social Care.

Council Housing: Debts

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the housing debt was of each local authority in each year since 1997; how much principal debt was paid off in each year by each authority and how this was resourced or otherwise financed, categorised by  (a) right to buy receipts,  (b) transfer receipts,  (c) other capital receipts,  (d) Treasury debt write off and  (e) support for overhanging debt; what the cost was of servicing the debt, including the interest rate; and what were the means whereby this was funded.

Iain Wright: I have arranged for a table showing: the level of housing debt, the amount each authority with debt set-aside for the repayment of that housing debt, the cost of servicing the debt (the 'Item 8 debit' in the Housing Revenue Account) and the interest rate that the housing debt attracted (the 'Consolidated rate of Interest' or CRI) for each financial year from 1997-98 to 2005-06 (the last year for which audited data is available) to be deposited in the Library.
	Until 1 April 2004, local authorities were required to 'set-aside' a proportion of their capital receipts for the repayment of housing debt, although whether or not the amount set-aside was actually used to repay housing debt was a treasury management decision for the authority. It was assumed for the purposes of HRA subsidy that housing debt was repaid. The absence of set-aside data in the table after 2003-04 reflects the introduction of the housing capital receipts 'pooling' regime replacing set-aside and there being no requirement to collect 'set-aside' data from that year. Set-aside data used in the HRA subsidy calculation was audited and so collected in the year following the year it was actually set-aside. It was considered that building set-aside into the HRA subsidy model for 2004-05 was not appropriate as the pooling of capital receipts would also be operating for this year.
	The data available to Communities and Local Government does not allow the break-down of set-aside into its constitute parts, which will include right to buy sales, transfer receipts and receipts from other disposals such as the sale of housing land.
	Treasury does not 'write off' housing debt. Any overhanging housing debt arising from a housing stock transfer is cleared by a payment from Communities and Local Government. These payments are made from an Annually Managed Expenditure Budget held by the Department. Under this arrangement debt moves from one part of the public sector to another, and in consequence there is no net increase in the public sector borrowing requirement. The Exchequer meets future interest payments generated by such transactions.
	The following table shows the value of transfer receipts and the value of overhanging debt payments by year for England since 1997.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Transfer receipts  Overhanging debt payments 
			 1997-98 259.67 0 
			 1998-99 483.94 0 
			 1999-2000 658.67 21.00 
			 2000-01 830.20 255.20 
			 2001-02 377.73 0 
			 2002-03 545.87 548.20 
			 2003-04 140.83 91.00 
			 2004-05 200.40 591.48 
			 2005-06 128.53 385.87 
			 2006-07 91.98 533.49 
			 Current financial year to date 156.86 252.00

Departmental Manpower

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people aged  (a) 30 to 39,  (b) 40 to 49,  (c) 50 to 59 and  (d) 60 to 69 years have (i) applied for jobs, (ii) received interviews and (iii) gained (A) temporary and (B) permanent jobs in her Department in 2007.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not currently collect information about age of job applicants. A breakdown by the age bands requested of those appointed following external recruitment exercises (those posts advertised outside the Civil Service) held in 2007 as shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Age 30-39  Age 40-49  Age 50-59  Age 60-69 
			 Temporary contract   1 1 
			 Permanent contract 10 2 4 1 
		
	
	This data does not include information from CLG executive agencies or the Government Offices. Nor does it include temporary agency staff or other workers who are not Departmental employees.

Departmental Recycling

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what  (a) volume and  (b) percentage of its waste her Department recycled in each of the last five years.

Parmjit Dhanda: The volume and percentage of waste recycled by Communities and Local Government and its predecessor departments in each of the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			  London Headquarters  
			 Recycled Waste (tonnes) 268 225 268 324 264 
			 Total Waste (tonnes) 521 534 478 527 461 
			 Percentage Recycled 51 42 56 61 57 
			   
			  Executive Agencies  
			 Recycled Waste (tonnes) n/k n/k 700 919 792 
			 Total Waste (tonnes) n/k n/k 2,100 1,563 1,425 
			 Percentage Recycled n/k n/k 33 59 56 
			 n/k = not known  Note: This data does not include figures from the regional Government offices

Fire Services: Finance

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has received from fire authorities of the convergence costs associated with FireControl, broken down by  (a) authority and  (b) region.

Parmjit Dhanda: Detailed planning for the FiReControl transition is not yet complete. It is therefore not yet possible for Fire and Rescue Authorities to produce meaningful estimates of convergence costs.

Local Government Act 1986

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Section 2 of the Local Government Act 1986; and how many incidences of non-compliance were reported to her Department in each of the last five years.

John Healey: Earlier this year, we consulted on the rules about the issuing of publicity by councils. We received over 450 responses none of which suggested any change was needed to Section 2 of the Local Government Act 1986. Communities and Local Government does not have a monitoring role in councils' compliance with this provision.

Local Government Finance

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the average cost of providing local authority services to  (a) rural and  (b) urban authorities; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what consideration she gives to the difference in costs to urban and rural authorities of providing services when determining the allocation of local authorities' grants settlements; and if she will make a statement.

John Healey: Each of the Relative Needs Formulae used in the calculation of the Relative Needs Amount for each authority attempt to assess the relative costs of providing services for each local authority that provides the relevant service, both urban and rural. No estimate of the actual cost of providing local authority services is made under the current method of calculating formula grant, which comprises Revenue Support Grant, redistributed business rates and principal formula Police Grant, where appropriate.

Parish Councils: Finance

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the new powers for parish councils in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 will be resourced via  (a) additional funding from central Government and  (b) a higher parish precept on council tax bills.

John Healey: The Act empowers parish councils in two ways: to appoint additional parish councillors; and (where the parish council is eligible) to exercise the power of wellbeing under section 2 of the Local Government Act 2000.
	The power to appoint additional parish councillors will not require resources. The power of wellbeing will enable eligible parish councils power to do anything which they consider is likely to promote or improve the economic, social or environmental well-being of their area. The extent to which the power is exercised, and the costs funded, will be a matter for eligible parish councils themselves.

Regeneration: Greater Manchester

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the membership is of the inter-departmental working group led by her Department that is considering regeneration alternatives to the regional casino in Manchester;
	(2)  which organisations she has  (a) consulted and  (b) received representations from as part of her review of the regeneration alternatives to the regional casino in Manchester;
	(3)  which organisations she has met as part of her review of the regeneration alternatives to the regional casino in Manchester;
	(4)  when she expects to publish the outcomes of her review of regeneration alternatives to the regional casino in Manchester;
	(5)  how many full-time equivalent civil servants have been seconded to work on the review of regeneration alternatives to the regional casino in Manchester.

John Healey: holding answer 21 November 2007
	In July, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said that the Government would consider the question of whether deprived areas could be equally well served by other forms of regeneration than the development of regional casinos. While Manchester will clearly have an interest in the findings of the review, the response is not specific to alternatives to a regional casino in Manchester—it applies to deprived areas more broadly. The review of alternatives to regional casino led regeneration will report shortly.
	As a part of this process, an inter-departmental working group has been set up. Since July 2007, three full meetings have been held, on: 9 August, 10 September and 20 September.
	All meetings had representatives from Communities and Local Government, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Transport, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Cabinet Office, Treasury, and Government Office North West.
	During the review, Communities and Local Government officials have consulted the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Transport, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, Government Office North West, local authorities (including Blackpool and Manchester), and members of one of Communities and Local Government's External Expert Panels (including Michael Parkinson, Vince Taylor and Graham Russell).
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has also met with representatives from Manchester city council, Blackpool council, and local hon. Members to hear their views.
	Civil servants have to date devoted a significant amount of time to the investigation of alternatives to regional casino led regeneration, although the review has not specifically a dedicated resource.